As you may know we represent the producers of wines whith a geographical indication (GI) from France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

We are extremely worried with the proposed extension of first level domain names, notably those relating to wines, i.e. .vin and .wine. We have had the opportunity to state very clearly that we are not opposed to it but rather that we would welcome these developments as long as the protection of wines with a geographical indication would be guaranteed.

In that regard we were pleased with the decision of the GAC in Beijing to postpone decision to grant extensions on these domain names. We immediately took this opportunity to look for solutions that would allow for the protection of our GIs and the development of the Internet. Informal contacts were made with .vin and .wine applicants. Our lawyer also sent them on our behalf a first letter on the 11th July, a few days before the Durban meeting.

We had taken good note of the GAC decision to give an additional month to the wine sector and to the candidates to find an agreement among them. Even if we considered this delay as being exteremely short, we remained optimistic that we would be able to find a solution with candidates. As we did not get any reply to our first letter, we sent another letter to the three candidates on the 31th July to reiterate our willingness to establish a constructive dialogue and to find a mutually acceptable agreement.

As of today, 19 August 2013, we have received two formal answers by letter and an informal one by email. We are pleased with the open-mindedness of certain candidates which seem to be willing to engage with us in the future. Nevertheless, we must note that the three candidates hide behind the GAC discussions and none is willing, at this present moment, to interact with us in order to find a solution. Moreover, we have also been informed of the fact that political pressure has been exerted on the candidates to discourage them to engage in any discussions with us (during the one month deadline given us by the GAC).

We deplore this situation and can only regret that our attempts to engage with the candidates, in order to find a concrete solution, has failed for the time being. The lack of agreement between the wine sector and the candidate companies seems to be the way sought by some. Unlike them, we are more than willing to find a suitable solution.

Taking into account this situation, we would like to ask for another reasonable delay to be granted in order to find an agreement. We also kindly request ICANN to invite the three candidates to talk to us. If not, the three projects might not come into effect.

We would be happy to provide you with all the letters and e-mails sent to the three companies in the last few months.

We have put our respective governments as well as the European Commission in copy of this letter. We will also informed the press that has been regularly asking us for the outcome of our discussion with the three candidates.

Finally, we would like to end this letter reiterating our conviction that a suitable and satisfactory solution is within reach. Only such a decision would offer the required credibility to the decision to extend first level domain names.

Reserve your space now to meet and benchmark with senior executives responsible for digital marketing, brand management, internet strategy, communications and trademark protection as you gain innovative and forward thinking strategies for ensuring your brand is best positioned to remain competitive in a post-gTLD environment.

Below is just a sample of those companies who will be in attendance at Momentum's Digital Marketing & gTLD Strategy Congress in London on September 26-27 - don’t miss out on this unparalleled learning and networking experience.

Regardless of whether your organisation has applied for a TLD (top level domain) or not, Brands must understand and plan for the impact that the introduction of a thousand new gTLDs will have on your global digital marketing and brand management strategy.

Learn how to preserve and maximize the value of your brand as you engage with fellow industry leaders during interactive sessions covering:

Friday, August 23, 2013

In Durban on 18 July, the GAC had given one month to the wine sector and to the candidates of the ".wine" and ".vin" strings to find an agreement. None of the three candidates has engaged with the sector to find concrete solutions and, moreover, political pressure was exerted to prevent an agreement to be reached. Given these circumstances, the European wine sector calls upon ICANN for more time and asks that the strings not to be assigned to the candidates until an agreement has been found. The European wine sectors asks ICANN and the GAC to be firm and continues to threaten to boycott these strings and to take legal action.

The extension of strings related to the wine sector is still a matter of debate. After expressing strong reservations in April on the ".wine" and ".vin", the GAC in Durban (18 July) gave a month to the wine sector and to the 3 candidate companies to find an agreement.

Since, the wine sector has made considerable efforts to interact with the candidates to find a solution to protect Geographical Indication (GI) wine names. A month has passed and all the candidates have given very vague answers to wine producers; none wanting at this stage to find concrete solutions. This is also the result of strong political pressure that are exerted to prevent an agreement to be reached. EFOW, the European federation of origin wines, has sent a letter to the ICANN Board asking for more time and to suspend all procedures leading to the extension of ".wine" and ".vin" strings until an agreement between the parties is found.

EFOW recalls that it will support the extension of these domain names as soon as rules ensuring the protection of GI wine names will be defined. "The wine sector has strongly benefited from trade globalization and the development of the Internet. Nevertheless, there needs to be a minimum set of rules" says the President of EFOW, Mr. Riccardo Ricci Curbastro. "We know that some actors do not share this point of view and work to prevent the definition of rules, including the respect of Intellectual Property Rights. The success of these domain names relies heavily on the support of the sector. We are open to dialogue.

However, if we are not listened to, we will not doubt to call for a boycott of these domain names and to take legal action". The wine sector expects a strong signal from ICANN and the GAC.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Council Members sought to help guide .BID Top Level DomainDot Bid Limited, the sole applicant for the .BID new generic Top Level Domain (gTLD), today announced that it is seeking representatives interested in participating in a Governance Council for the gTLD .BID.

“The rise in popularity of market place sites such as ebay, Alibaba, and Mercado Libre has meant that bidding online for goods and services around the world is nearly as natural as buying a Newspaper” said Iain Roache of Dot Bid Limited. “With over 112 million users on eBay alone, having a dedicated virtual space for auction platforms, market place sites and individual buyers and sellers provides a beacon for an enormous, self-selecting, trusted user base ready to buy and sell virtually anything online.”

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is enabling an expansion of the Internet’s real estate to include just about any domain name extension including .BID.

To help guide the development and direction of the .BID gTLD, Dot Bid Limited is creating a Governance Council to help advise on best practice for operation and policy of the Top Level Domain including abuse prevention and mitigation, intellectual property rights protection, gTLD operating rules, reserved second-level domain names, certification or authentication programmes, and compliance.

“We are reaching out to all parties that have an interest in buying and selling online across the entire spectrum of auctions” continued Roache, “from English auctions to penny auctions, across a range of general markets and niche genres, and the more traditional offline auction houses. All interested parties are invited to contribute to the .BID Governance Council, helping to shape the online auction space now and into the future.”

If you are interested in participating to the .BID governance council simply visit www.governancecouncils.com/bid. Expressions of interest will be accepted at this site for several months, with on-going communications sent to interested parties prior to the Governance Council launch.

About Governance CouncilsGovernance Councils owe their existence to Internet expansion efforts that began years ago. In 2005, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) began studying whether to introduce new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). Governance Councils were set up to create a mechanism by which governments, corporations and individuals around the world could influence and ensure that the Internet was being used for the broader benefit of the Internet users

About Domain Venture PartnersDomain Venture Partners was founded to create a bridge between the demand for and supply of finance, and the provision of technical support in relation to ICANN’s new generic Top Level Domain (TLD) name process. It has since evolved to become the only regulated structured investment fund group, for experienced investors to benefit from returns generated by investing in and managing TLD registries. DVP provides investors with a clean and direct access to an uncorrelated asset class, which would ordinarily be out of the reach of individual investors.

About Iain RoacheIain Roache spent his early career in investment banking, structuring and marketing derivatives with Nomura, Kleinwort Benson and Merryl Lynch. Moving into strategy consulting, Iain led London the Investment Banking Practice at AT Kearney. In 1998 Iain Roache became managing director and member of the European Board of Cisco Systems, where he was responsible for developing and implementing the EMEA Mergers & Acquisitions process.

Since 2010, Iain has worked in relation to the establishment of Domain Venture Partners PCC Limited and is a Director of Domain Management Limited. Iain Roache holds a Bsc (Econ.) First Class, London School of Economics, specialising in Accounting and Finance.

Friday, August 16, 2013

This letter, from Bruce Cakebread - President of NapaValley Vintners - was just sent to Mr. Crocker:

The Napa Valley Vintners, the non-profit trade association representing nearly 500 Napa Valiey wineries, is concerned with how the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) expansion of generic top level domains may negatively impact our association’s ability to protect the Napa Valley name from fraudulent use.

A prestigious place that has earned a worldwide reputation for producing top quality wines, the Napa Valley wine industry accounts for an annual economic impact on the US economy of more than $50 billion annually and tens of thousands of jobs.

Wine is an agricultural product inextricably tied to its place of origin. The Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) aggressively works to ensure labels on bottles of wine are truthful and accurate as to the appellation of origin of that wine. Consumers rely on this information to make informed purchasing decisions. We have had to fight to protect our name from misuse both in the US and around the world from those that would like to trade on our renown with inferior wines that derives from elsewhere.

As lCANN prepares for the largest-ever expansion of the domain name system, the NVV is fearful of the new opportunities provided therein by nefarious actors intending to misappropriate the Napa Valley brand, specifically as it relates to ".wine "and even “.vin.”

It is our understanding that agreements associated with this expansion will prohibit operators of gTLDs from registering country and territory narnes recognized by the UN in front of the extensions “.wine” and “.vin.” Hence, the registration of “US.wine" would be protected, but “Napa.wine” could be registered by any entity for any purpose. Protection is necessary at the secondarv-level since registrars can commercialize the strings therefore allowing individuals or organizations to combine both gTLDs with a second-level domain name to create web addresses like “napa.wine” or “sonoma.wine” or many other combinations from both the US and other prominent wine regions around the world.

If this is allowed to go forward, our 500 winery members and legitimate wine producers worldwide would undoubtedly face cases of cybersquatting; damage to their regional brand; lack of consumer trust and potential overall loss of brand value.

Considering the clear importance that the names “Napa” and “Napa Valley” have for brand, region and industry, and give the lack of legal tools that would allow our organization to protect our names proposed by applicants to the “’.wine” and “.vin" strings, we urge lCANN to take into consideration the advice received from its Governmental Advisory Committee and not proceed with these strings beyond initial evaluation.

As consumers turn more frequently to the internet for information, the NVV believes that adequate safeguards need to be put in place to protect wine growing place names before approving “.wine” and "vin.” if we can have a role in shaping this policy decision, or be otherwise helpful, pilease don’t hesitate its contact me.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Our Association is developing the new .PHARMACY domain name registry, or generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD), to provide a secure and trustworthy online space for legitimate Internet pharmacies and related entities in the interest of protecting global public health. The .PHARMACY gTLD Program Analyst will play a key role in the launch and administration of the .PHARMACY registry operation.

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree preferred. The ideal candidate will have five or more years of professional experience in Internet technology and business administration, with strong knowledge of the Internet domain name system and related infrastructure. Strong organizational skills and proficiency in Windows Office Suite required. Previous association and project management experience desired. Experience in international health care regulation and fluency in multiple languages a plus.

Responsibilities:

Work with Association management, its .PHARMACY gTLD advisory committees, and other stakeholders to maintain global standards for the new .PHARMACY registry.

Develop and maintain policies and procedures for the registry operation.

Monitor program workflow; identify and resolve causes of delays, and prepare proposals to prevent future delays.

Coordinate with US and international regulatory bodies on behalf of Association to ensure that domain name registrants, as well as the registry itself, are compliant with applicable laws and regulations.

Interact professionally and cooperatively with Association members, customers, and staff to answer questions about programs and services and forward more serious concerns to the department manager or the appropriate senior staff member.

Respond to all internal and external customers inquires within 24 to 48 hours.

Assist the Policy and Communications Project Manager in planning, implementing, and monitoring the budget related to the gTLD program.

Assist the Policy and Communications Project Manager in special projects as assigned.

Assist in the preparation of quarterly gTLD program briefings for Executive Committee reports.

If you are an existing or prospective TLD applicant, one of the top of mind questions you likely have is "what does the future of brand marketing look like in a world of 1,000+ new domains?"

To provide you with the insights and ideas you need to ensure your digital strategy is best prepared to capitalize on the changing internet landscape, Momentum's Digital Marketing & gTLD Strategy Congress, taking place September 26-27 in London, will once again assemble a "who's who" of brand, technology and domain experts at the industry's most interactive and highly anticipated digital marketing event.

Providing these insights are such visionaries and industry leaders as:

Dave Coplin, Chief Envisioning Officer, Microsoft UK, who will be delivering a keynote address on "Looking Forward to the Future of Brand Marketing Post-gTLD".

Frank T. Schilling, Founder, Managing Director, Uniregistry, Corp. who will be discussing the future of the internet and what it means for brands, investors and industry.

Additionally, by attending, you will learn:

Connecting the Value of a Great Name: Deconstructing a Successful Go-to-Market TLD Strategy with GoDaddy.

Digital Marketing Strategies to Best Incorporate and Maximise the Benefit from Your New TLD from KPMG and the Brand Registry Group.

Marketing Do’s and Don’ts and Best Practices for Brands As You Prepare for Launch from .CO and Afilias.

How to Best Utilise Your .BRAND to Your Digital Advantage with Google.

Recommendations for Ensuring Your Brand is Not Compromised as Your New TLD Comes Online with Richemont, LEGO and HSBC.

Best Practices from Fast -Tracked IDN CC and Geo TLDs with .Berlin and .London.

Insights into successfully building an online brand with GoDaddy

Finally, you will gain key exclusive insights into the latest TLD developments from Christopher Mondini, Vice President of Stakeholder Engagement for North America ICANN and other key industry leaders such as Mark Monitor, Domain Diction, SEDO, Authentic Web, ARI Registry Service, NetNames, the Domain Name Association and many more.

With a room block currently at 75% capacity, this event will sell out so be sure to register for the conference and reserve your hotel room today.